The Senate on Tuesday gave the Federal Government three additional months to rescue capital projects captured in the 2025 budget from abandonment, extending the implementation deadline to December 31, 2026.
The decision followed concerns that several projects had reached various stages of execution but remained incomplete because contractors had not been fully paid and Ministries, Departments and Agencies had not exhausted funds already appropriated and released.
The extension changes the capital implementation deadline from September 30 to December 31, 2026.
It was approved through the passage of the Appropriations Repeal and Enactment Act 2025 Amendment Bill 2026, after senators considered and adopted the report of the Committee of Supply.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio said allowing the deadline to expire would have left more public projects vulnerable to abandonment.
“It is not good for us to have abandoned projects littered across the nation since most contractors have not either completed their jobs or have been fully paid in respect of the 2025 Appropriations Act,” Akpabio said.
He urged the Federal Government to use the additional window to settle outstanding obligations and push projects to completion.
The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, said the extension was necessary because the implementation of capital projects involves procurement, contract execution, mobilisation, certification and payment.
He said some of the projects had already received appropriations and funding but required more time to complete the implementation cycle.
According to Bamidele, allowing the September deadline to lapse could create unnecessary complications for MDAs and contractors working on projects already at advanced stages.
He warned that projects left unfinished after substantial public funds had been committed would undermine value for money and add to the country’s stock of abandoned infrastructure.
Bamidele stressed that the extension was not a fresh appropriation.
Rather, he said, it was intended to provide additional time for the implementation of the capital component of the 2025 budget using funds already appropriated and released.
He also warned MDAs that the extension did not remove existing accountability requirements.
All spending during the extended period, he said, must comply with financial regulations, procurement laws and legislative oversight.
The debate also exposed concerns over the recurring delays in budget execution.
Senate Chief Whip Tahir Monguno blamed part of the problem on the centralised payment system domiciled in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
Monguno warned that unless the system was reviewed, the National Assembly would continue to receive requests for extensions of budget implementation deadlines.
He described the arrangement as a bottleneck to effective budget execution and urged the Executive to reconsider the policy.
The Senate subsequently amended the relevant provisions of the 2025 Appropriation Act and passed the amendment bill after suspending the relevant rule.
The extension gives the Federal Government and MDAs until December 31 to complete eligible capital projects, process outstanding payments and utilise funds already appropriated and released.
The latest move places pressure on the Executive to turn the additional three months into completed projects rather than another extension of unfinished work.